The only trouble with crafting a golfing nirvana is running out of things to improve.

Munster clubs dominated the 2017 Gala Irish Golf Awards, with the Killeen Course at Killarney Golf and Fishing Club named “Parkland Golf Course of the Year” by the Ireland Golf Tour Operator Association (IGTOA).

The scope for golfing improvements at the world-renowned Old Head links in Cork is in the realm of the subjective at this stage — but the drive to turn near perfection to peerless continues, nonetheless.

The mother of two young children who died in a fire at a Dublin charity housing complex was still fighting for her life last night.

The manager of the Bray Travellers community Development group says the deaths of four people - including a mother and three young children - in a fire in Clondalkin, Dublin have devastated the Traveller community.

Lee Corso didn’t make the journey to Dublin this time but the veteran ESPN analyst could hardly contain himself on TV when he was asked for his memories of the original ‘Emerald Isle Classic’, played in a very different Lansdowne Road, back in 1988.

Lee Corso didn’t make the journey to Dublin this time but the veteran ESPN analyst could hardly contain himself on TV this week when he was asked for his memories of the original ‘Emerald Isle Classic’, played in a very different Lansdowne Road, back in 1988, writes Brendan O’Brien of the Irish Examiner.

John Bennett, whose death occurred yesterday, was an All-Ireland senior hurling medal winner with Cork in 1966 and a member of the Blackrock team which in 1956 reclaimed the county championship after a 25-year wait.

It drives spin-off business in Kinsale to the tune of around €10m every year. Little wonder the reopening yesterday of the acclaimed Old Head golf links for 2016 has the town smiling. It isn’t just a boon for golfers, writes Tony Leen

There is a real sense of getting down to business at the marts this week. With the schools reopening after the Easter break, cattle marts are back to an adult-only audience.

Tonight’s SHC fourth round clash between Midleton and St Finbarr’s in Páirc Uí Rinn (7.45pm) is just the clubs’ second meeting since 2005, but for older spectators it is sure to recall memories of an epic rivalry in the 1980s.

A coroner has appealed to young drivers to slow down, saying “a car is a dangerous weapon”.

A coroner has called for warning signs to be erected at a notorious bend on the main road between Killarney and Tralee where three people died in two separate accidents in “exactly the same place.”

It’s been on the market since late summer, but now this property at Kneeves, Kilmichael, Macroom, is garnering strong interest.

Mick McCarthy’s hopes of becoming Ireland manager may be fading and he was fully focused on his current side Ipswich last night.

A Polish mechanic has lost his claim to a 4 x 4 vehicle he bought “in good faith” on the Done Deal website — but which turned out to be stolen.

A mechanic claims he owns a Land Rover Discovery jeep he bought in Limerick on Christmas Eve from an ad on the Done Deal website but which turned out to be stolen.

Former village shop is choc-a-bloc with everything from glass to religious pictures, writes Tommy Barker.

A man who reversed a large truck carrying surf equipment over a tourist on Inch Strand two years ago has been found not guilty of the charge of dangerous driving causing her death.

Seamus Horgan (24, 5’11’’, 11-7 Tournafulla): “Like a lot of goalkeepers Seamus was also a very good outfield player but ended up in goals because he could be a bit wild out there!

Pipe bands, representatives of sports clubs, traders, and residents of Blackpool in Cork took to the streets over the weekend in a bid to retain a post office in the village centre.

Golf remains one of Ireland’s major attractions as the tourism industry looks to 2013 with a greater degree of optimism after a number of challenging years.

Leicester 2 Barnsley 2

SOME 40 MPs in Zimbabwe have undergone a mass circumcision — please insert your own joke here about Coalition TDs already being castrated.

It was, in the words of a local sage, a day borrowed from the weather gods at the Old Head of Kinsale. The water sparkled, the sky stayed blue and the breeze was testing enough to brook no debate about who was boss.

Off the Bandon to Kilbrittain road, in the tongue-twisting townland of Maulnaskimlahane, joint agents, Paddy Murray of Paddy Murray Auctioneers and Jim O’Brien of CCM are bringing a 63-acre residential sale to market.

Barnsley 0 Cardiff 1

A coroner has repeated her plea to government agencies to make it compulsory for all heavy goods vehicles to have specified safety mirrors fitted so as to prevent accidents with cyclists and pedestrians.

The GAA in Carlow is mourning the sudden death yesterday of Tommy O’Neill, County Board secretary.

THE value of that?” mused Old Head director of golf Jim O’Brien, as he admired the magazine cover.

A FARM at Castlelack, Bandon, Co Cork, is generating interest, and auctioneer Jim O’Brien expects a sale sooner rather than later.

IT’S no surprise in a week when the EU and IMF take over the country without firing a shot, that farm bidders have been quiet.

THERE was a meitheal of sorts for the sale of a farm in west Cork at Lassanaroe, Skibbereen, which was tied up last week by neighbours acting in concert.

THE poster boys for our financial crisis have been well established: Seánie Fitz, ‘Fingers’ Fingleton, Eugene Sheehy, Patrick Neary, Bertie Ahern, Charlie McCreevy, Brian Cowen.

WHEN this farm hit the market, as part of a larger offering back in 2004, it had a guide price of in excess of €12,000 per acre.

JUST 100 yards from the main Cork/Clonakilty road at Pedlar’s Cross, this 59-acre farm in the west Cork countryside should pique local interest.

IT’S in a lot of bits and pieces, but in a way, that’s going to be the strong selling point of this farm at Lassanroe, Skibbereen, Co Cork.

‘St Swithin’s day if thou dost rain

SOMETIMES you don’t know how good something is until it’s gone.